Eye discharge, sneezing and coughing, help

[alejandrocarrizales]

Hello, I’m here again looking for some advice. Regarding Cami, my little girl. She is 4 years old, home cat and with a fairly decent calm life. Since early december last year, we took her to the vet because of some sneezing and some ocular discharge. As she is a white cat, since she came home she had always some eye boogers from time to time. But this time was a bit different. So we took her to vet and she found that Cami had clogged nasal ducts but nothing else. One week later we returned to the vet because she had a sore eye and a lot of discharge. She was treated, and the diagnosis was that she may have asthma or allergies. And was given a treatment for that. This work a bit, but the eye discharge continued, the sneezing and now she had this weird attacks that resembled a reverse sneezing, but we later found out that this was coughing. All of this was during december. Early on this year we looked for another vet and she told us that some pcr tests should be run, because she believed that it was a viral infection.

She completely discarded allergies or asthma. So we run the tests and had to wait for 2 weeks to the results. Today we received the results and all the diseases showed negative. It was a very extense test. The vet told us that she will give her an antiobitic and cortisol treatment that may help to reduce the symptoms but may not be a definitive solution. Because based on her experience, she may have some tumours on the nasal cavity. But we have to wait for the treatment.

We are very disoriented, because we had received a lot of information and we really dont know what is going on. Cami is alright, she is eating, playing, and doing her normal routine but she still has the eye discharge, some sneezing and she coughs not every day, but some day she does.

Has anybody treated with a similar case? The vet inmediately outruled allergies or anything else. But I dont know I don’t think this possibilities have been taken too serious. Its also important to tell that the tests and treatments are very expensive, and if these treatment doesn’t work we will have to run another expensive test just to know exactly what is going on. The vet doesnt want to run it right now because she wants to see how the treatment works but she emphasized that it may just be paliative.

Sorry for the long text, but I feel really disoriented and discouraged. I really thought that the pcr test may bring some answers.


Im attaching the results from the test.

 

[Alldara]

Hey! Did the vet do a swab on the discharge?
When Lily had a persistent infection it turned out to be a fungal Uri. Sometimes even a swab can come back clear for that. She was on an anti-fungal and anti-bacterial combo for I think 8 weeks.

Fungal Infections in Cats - Cat Owners - Merck Veterinary Manual

 

[stephanietx]

The watery eyes & sneezing could be from allergies. The coughing can be asthma. I think you should ask the vet to check specifically for asthma, which will require an X-ray.

 

[white shadow]

.
Hi alejandrocarrizales !

I can't read/see those test results.........so, please tell me: Was "herpesvirus" tested for? Was there a result?

Any updates? How has she been since you posted?

It looks like the testing searched for 7 "diseases"........could you just post those names for us?
.

 

[alejandrocarrizales]

Hey! Did the vet do a swab on the discharge?
When Lily had a persistent infection it turned out to be a fungal Uri. Sometimes even a swab can come back clear for that. She was on an anti-fungal and anti-bacterial combo for I think 8 weeks.

Fungal Infections in Cats - Cat Owners - Merck Veterinary Manual

No she didn’t but this insight is really helpful, we will definitely tell the vet about this possibility. I read the whole info and actually Cami used to rub on soil everytime she had the chance, when my dad used to walk her. Thank you very much I will discuss it with her vet.

 

[alejandrocarrizales]

The watery eyes & sneezing could be from allergies. The coughing can be asthma. I think you should ask the vet to check specifically for asthma, which will require an X-ray.

Yes allergies was what I thought but the vet totally discarded it. About asthma I remember that 4 years ago an X-ray was done on her and the vet actually mentioned something about asthma but never really went to specific about it.

 

[alejandrocarrizales]

Yes allergies was what I thought but the vet totally discarded it. About asthma I remember that 4 years ago an X-ray was done on her and the vet actually mentioned something about asthma but never really went to specific about it.

Thank you very much!

 

[alejandrocarrizales]

.
Hi alejandrocarrizales !

I can't read/see those test results.........so, please tell me: Was "herpesvirus" tested for? Was there a result?

Any updates? How has she been since you posted?

It looks like the testing searched for 7 "diseases"........could you just post those names for us?
.

Yes I’m sorry for the quality, I didn’t had the chance to get a better quality image at the moment I wrote the post but now I do. Yes she was tested for herpesvirus and came back negative. I will attach a better quality image.

I’m not with her at the moment, but she had her first dose today and my mom told me that she seems a bit better, not sneezing that much.

Actually I spoke with my mom yesterday night, and she told me that the vet mentioned that the little ‘a‘ beside Influenza A virus meant that the virus is present. So all the medication is aimed to that virus.

But does anyone know something about this ‘a’ on a SWAP test.

 

[alejandrocarrizales]

Thank you very much for your responses, I will keep you posted on any updates. Cami and I really appreciate the support.

 

[white shadow]

.
OMG!!! She is sooooooooo sweet! Pure innocence there!

I'm confused........
First, you said "(mom) told me that the vet mentioned that the little ‘a‘ beside Influenza A virus meant that the virus is present"........BUT, the actual test RESULT report says NEGATIVE.

And...............the notes at the bottom don't explain this mystery ' a ' ?

That question really has to go back to the Vet, then (unless someone else can decipher it)

If the Vet confirms she has it, Cami may have a claim to some fame here on TCS.............she may be our first known case of human influenza virus in a cat! ***DISCLAIMER: OPINION IS SOLELY THAT OF THE MEMBER WHO HAS POSTED IT AND IS SOLELY BASED ON SAID MAMBER'S MEMORY. MEMBER ACKNOWLEDGES THAT SAID MEMORY HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED TO HAVE BEEN DEFICIENT WHEN CHALLENGED IN PRIOR INSTANCES. IF PRESENTED WITH CONTRADICTORY EVIDENCE, SAID MEMBER WILL LIKELY DISAVOW ALL KNOWLEDGE OF EVER HAVING POSTED ANY SUCH INFORMATION, AND IS LIKELY TO ATTRIBUTE ANY AND ALL SUCH ALLEDGED POSTINGS TO THE ACTIONS OF A FELINE "HOUSEMATE", WHO/WHICH HAS (WITHOUT EVIDENTIARY SUBSTANTIATION) BEEN REPORTED TO FREQUENT A DESK SHELF WHICH SUPPORTS THE MEMBER POSTER'S COMPUTER KEYBOARD.***END OF DISCLAIMER
I remember that we've discussed cats and Covid infection a couple of years ago, but I don't remember reading any reports about Human Type A in any cat on the forum. (Perhaps we should hold off and announce Cami's award as a 'tentative" or "pending" award for now....?)

Anyway, someone needs to speak with the Vet about "the mysterious letter a"......and we must wait for the virus to run its course.

================================================================================================
Googling "Influenza A virus in a cat" produces some curious results, including that this virus can cause some very serious illness in cats. In Poland in 2023, an outbreak of H5N1 caused the WHO to issue an alert after case reports of extreme disease and deaths in cats. I found no references to the use of antiviral drugs with cats in that search. I do know that the human drug Tamiflu (influenza antiviral) has been used in kittens (in treating panleukemia) but antiviral drugs must be used within the first 48 hours of onset, so from a practical perspective, diagnosis timing would likely preclude its use.

Anyway, 'nuff said. [very likely, much too much]
[Edit: virus running course]
.

 

[stephanietx]

If your vet is not listening to you and your concerns, you need to find another vet. I have had a herpes kitty (feline herpes virus) and currently have an asthmatic kitty. My herpes kitty (which would've shown up on the PCR test they did for upper respiratory diseases) frequently had watery eyes and chronic sneezing. She also frequently had enlarged lymph nodes and drainage (post nasal drip like in humans). If that got too out of hand, then she would cough, but it was not common at all for her to do this.

My asthmatic kitty on the other hand frequently has asthma attacks, sneezes, and has runny eyes even though she is on a daily antihistamine, steroids as needed for asthma attacks, and a nebulizer as needed.

If your vet is not willing to explore possible asthma, then what is the vet suggesting since your kitty is obviously not completely well?

 

[alejandrocarrizales]

.
OMG!!! She is sooooooooo sweet! Pure innocence there!

I'm confused........
First, you said "(mom) told me that the vet mentioned that the little ‘a‘ beside Influenza A virus meant that the virus is present"........BUT, the actual test RESULT report says NEGATIVE.

And...............the notes at the bottom don't explain this mystery ' a ' ?

That question really has to go back to the Vet, then (unless someone else can decipher it)

If the Vet confirms she has it, Cami may have a claim to some fame here on TCS.............she may be our first known case of human influenza virus in a cat! ***DISCLAIMER: OPINION IS SOLELY THAT OF THE MEMBER WHO HAS POSTED IT AND IS SOLELY BASED ON SAID MAMBER'S MEMORY. MEMBER ACKNOWLEDGES THAT SAID MEMORY HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED TO HAVE BEEN DEFICIENT WHEN CHALLENGED IN PRIOR INSTANCES. IF PRESENTED WITH CONTRADICTORY EVIDENCE, SAID MEMBER WILL LIKELY DISAVOW ALL KNOWLEDGE OF EVER HAVING POSTED ANY SUCH INFORMATION, AND IS LIKELY TO ATTRIBUTE ANY AND ALL SUCH ALLEDGED POSTINGS TO THE ACTIONS OF A FELINE "HOUSEMATE", WHO/WHICH HAS (WITHOUT EVIDENTIARY SUBSTANTIATION) BEEN REPORTED TO FREQUENT A DESK SHELF WHICH SUPPORTS THE MEMBER POSTER'S COMPUTER KEYBOARD.***END OF DISCLAIMER
I remember that we've discussed cats and Covid infection a couple of years ago, but I don't remember reading any reports about Human Type A in any cat on the forum. (Perhaps we should hold off and announce Cami's award as a 'tentative" or "pending" award for now....?)

Anyway, someone needs to speak with the Vet about "the mysterious letter a"......and we must wait for the virus to run its course.

================================================================================================
Googling "Influenza A virus in a cat" produces some curious results, including that this virus can cause some very serious illness in cats. In Poland in 2023, an outbreak of H5N1 caused the WHO to issue an alert after case reports of extreme disease and deaths in cats. I found no references to the use of antiviral drugs with cats in that search. I do know that the human drug Tamiflu (influenza antiviral) has been used in kittens (in treating panleukemia) but antiviral drugs must be used within the first 48 hours of onset, so from a practical perspective, diagnosis timing would likely preclude its use.

Anyway, 'nuff said. [very likely, much too much]
[Edit: virus running course]
.

Thank you very much!! I know it's kind of confusing adding my mom to the equation, but I'm not with Cami at the moment, and all the information I'm getting is from my mom and the vet. So I did confirmed the information and I quote: "although the result is negative, the little 'a' means that the virus may be present" so right now she is receiving a month treatment with antibiotics and cortisone. Aimed to the influenza "diagnosis". So yes, maybe Cami might get that influenza claim.

I also googled a bit about influenza virus in a cat, and came back with the same results as you, but I'm really confused because her first symptoms appeared on november 30th. Since then she has been in contact with 3 other cats, and her symptoms doesn't really seem to worsen, and the other cats never had any symptoms. So I'm really confused about this sketchy positive result, obviously based on information online. That's why I'm very suspicious about the diagnosis the vet gave us.

But again I really appreciate your insights and knowledge. Getting to talk about this with other people helps a lot on this confusing times.

I also have to mention that she has been only treated once when her first symptoms appeared, the vet gave us an
antihistamine and some eye drops treatment. But that was on early december, when we changed vets early january, this other test was performed and we just received the results after 17 days of the test done. So it has been a slow and confusing ride.

 

[alejandrocarrizales]

If your vet is not listening to you and your concerns, you need to find another vet. I have had a herpes kitty (feline herpes virus) and currently have an asthmatic kitty. My herpes kitty (which would've shown up on the PCR test they did for upper respiratory diseases) frequently had watery eyes and chronic sneezing. She also frequently had enlarged lymph nodes and drainage (post nasal drip like in humans). If that got too out of hand, then she would cough, but it was not common at all for her to do this.

My asthmatic kitty on the other hand frequently has asthma attacks, sneezes, and has runny eyes even though she is on a daily antihistamine, steroids as needed for asthma attacks, and a nebulizer as needed.

If your vet is not willing to explore possible asthma, then what is the vet suggesting since your kitty is obviously not completely well?

Yes I agree with you, we actually had to change vets because the first one never really digged really deep on Cami's symptoms. And this other one completely discarded and was focused only on a viral infection, she out ruled asthma because she said that it never involves the eyes. But Cami has exactly what you described about your asthmatic kitty.

The vet is suggesting an antibiotic and steroids to treat the symptoms, always with the disclaimer that this might be palliative only and there's a deeper cause for the symptoms. But we will not know until a month.

 

[Kris107]

Just to add to the confusion, I had a cat who had asthma, but separately, she also had glaucoma. The glaucoma made her eye weepy sometimes. I assume they tested eye pressures? Just another thought that they could be unrelated issues.

 

[alejandrocarrizales]

Just to add to the confusion, I had a cat who had asthma, but separately, she also had glaucoma. The glaucoma made her eye weepy sometimes. I assume they tested eye pressures? Just another thought that they could be unrelated issues.

I'm not sure that they tested the eye pressure. The first time when her eyes started weeping, the did a really deep check on her eyes, and the first vet found that she had clogged eye ducts. She performed the test that you pour drops to the eye and look for the liquid on the nose or mouth, and found none.

But I'm not really sure about the pressure test.

 

[alejandrocarrizales]

Hello! Im here to give an update on Cami. I didn’t wrote earlier because I wanted the treatment to be concluded.

She started exactly a month ago, first week of february with antibiotics and steroids. And the following weeks just with a dose of steroids that was lowered each week, and that cleared absolutely all the problems. Cleared her eyes, eliminated the coughing and the sneezes. All things went back to normal.

Last week was her first week without any treatment and she started sneezing again very mildly, and on friday after some playing with my dad she started coughing or at least is what the vet told us.

So yes, I’m a bit discouraged because everything was going really well. For what I can see what was working really well where the steroids because those where the only meds that she was on on the last weeks.We have called the vet and waiting for her response.

 

[fionasmom]

Thank you for updating us. Hopefully your vet will be able to resolve this for you.

 

[alejandrocarrizales]

Hello, just a quick update. After my last post, we took her to the vet and she told us that she can give her again steroids but we should think on the possibility to realize another exam on Cami, an endoscopic one to see if it is something blocking her nose, she mentioned a lot of things, from a tumor, to nasal polyps. This is a really expensive test and she told us that she will need to find a specialist to get it done. So we decided to give her another round of meds and wait. This was like 3 weeks ago.

The last week was really difficult for us and Cami. Last week she had a strong URI and was treated with another vet, and at the same time our dear 10 year old dog Chilly got really bad because of a chronic disease. This other vet recommended us to give her a wide spectrum antibiotic and to get x-rays of her head done, to see if there was something blocking her nose. But recommended us to take away our another cat Bisho from the house, for us to avoid getting him infected. So I took him home with me and Cami stayed at my parents. She was treated with antibiotics and performed the test. They found that there is indeed something blocking only one nosestrill, the vet said that it is something really tiny and doesn't seem to be a tumour because it's barely visible, he thinks it might be either a polyp or something in there. At the same time Cami's x rays where getting done, Chilly my dog was entering to IC, to die later that day.


Cami has really mild symptoms of whatever blockage she may have on her nose (we are gonna treat it next week), but she seems to be sad, they have been telling me that she seems to be completely changed in character, she sleeps a lot and stays a lot of time on the room where my cat Bisho used to hang out all day long. We are getting Cami to another exam with another vet who has all the instruments and is really less expensive. My mom is really worried because she doesn´t know if Cami is indeed feeling unwell of if she is feeling sad because of Bisho´s or Chilly´s absence. She eats and drinks, but she doesn't seem to respond to the callings as she used to, even her routine has changed, from sleeping all nights with my mom, to staying outside on other room of the house.


Does anyone have experience on something like this? These have been very difficult months, we have tried everything that was suggested and she has been seen by 5 different vets, so I really feel like we only go backwards with every step we take. Trying to do the best sometimes seems to affect in other ways we haven't think about.


Sorry for the book.

 

[Alldara]

I don't know much to say as it could be the illness, the loss or both effcting her behaviour. Just want to say im sorry youre experiencing hard timss.

 

[jaws239]

Agreed. Hard to say as yall have had LOT of change, stress, etc in a few months' time plus different vet poking on her frequently in same time.

Sorry for loss of your sweet dog. Hope they get Cami's diagnosis determined soon & life can settle down!